It's Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month?! Yep.

---

Know the symptoms and your family history of colorectal polyps and/or colorectal cancer. If you have even one symptom or a family history -- create a prevention plan with your physician. 

If you have even one symptom, don’t delay seeing your physician. Make sure your care team sets a science-backed path to understand what is going on in your body causing any of the symptoms associated with colorectal cancer. While these symptoms are associated with other conditions, do not wait to get a poop test (for example, a FIT test or Cologuard test) as early detection is critical.

Schedule an annual poop test and a colonoscopy if you are 45 years old, even without symptoms of colorectal cancer just like your annual women’s health screenings. If you are not able to get a colonoscopy, the gold standard for prevention and early detection, get an immediate poop test, like a Cologuard test kit which can be shipped to your home. The simple stool test that can show indications of cancer and help your doctor order a colonoscopy. The best test is the one that gets done.

If you have a family history of colorectal cancer and/or polyps discovered in a colonoscopy, your screening plan may require you to BE SEEN before you turn 45 years old. Talk with your extended family of origin to understand important information and share this information with your physician. 

A colonoscopy is the gold standard for both the prevention and detection to avoid a late stage colon or rectal cancer diagnosis. In the procedure if polyps are detected, the doctor is typically able to remove the polyp and send it to the lab to confirm the type of polyp. If a pre-cancerous polyp is confirmed, your next colonoscopy timeline will be adjusted to BE SEEN sooner.

No! A colonoscopy is the ONLY screening for every person, regardless of gender. 

When you turn 45 years old, you are eligible for a colonoscopy without symptoms and/or family history. 

Current standards indicate that every person 45 years or older should receive a colonoscopy every 10 years if polyps are not detected along with any other prompts that would require a colonoscopy sooner.

If you’re dismissed or turned away without a referral or prescription for a colonoscopy, continue to advocate for yourself. If you are unable to break through, find a new physician to support your wellbeing.

If you’re dismissed or turned away without conclusive test results after having even one of the symptoms and/or family history, continue to be your own advocate and don’t stop fighting until you get science-backed answers. 

Find a new primary care physician if you are not being heard. You wouldn’t let your partner, best friend or your child go without answers and you are just as important.